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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
was honored on Staten Island Friday for his work in preventing foreclosures
across the state.

Schneiderman was given the Vito J. Titone Award for Legal
Excellence Friday at a luncheon hosted by Staten Island Legal Services, devoted
to providing free civil legal help to low-income Staten Islanders.

When he took office in January 2011, there were 345,000 New
Yorkers facing foreclosure, Schneiderman said.

"And fully half of them had never had a chance to speak to a
lawyer at any stage of the process," he said. "So I made a commitment, and it
is my commitment still, that no one in New York should lose their home because they
can't get to a lawyer."

Schneiderman has taken a lead nationally in pursuing legal
action against bank giants for their roles in the mortgage crisis -- and
recounted being asked to sign on to a settlement soon after taking office in
2011 that would have released banks from further responsibility - without any
full investigation having been done into the pre-crash activities of banks.

"I'd only been an AG for about an hour and a half, but I
knew this was not the right way to do business," Schneiderman said.

He said eventually he got other attorney generals and the
federal government on his side to pursue bigger settlements from banks - and
he's since funneled much of that money into programs like the Homeowner
Protection Program (HOPP), which allocated $60 million for housing counseling
and legal services for homeowners facing foreclosure.

Staten Island Legal Services receives funding from HOPP to
help local homeowners facing foreclosure - many of whom are also dealing with
other issues, liked home damage after Hurricane Sandy.

Schneiderman said whether its helping storm victims get
money from the government or insurance companies, helping domestic violence
victims, or helping people achieve financial independence, lawyers like those
at Staten Island Legal Services ensure "equal justice under law."

"I believe that the
right to an attorney is the right that protects all other rights. Without Staten
Island Legal Services, many Staten Islanders wouldn't have anyone to protect
their rights," Schneiderman said.

And while Staten
Island Legal Services Director Nancy Goldhill said the agency must turn away
more people than it can help due to funding, Schneiderman said he'd committed
$10 million more to the HOPP program.

"When we run out of money I'll just go get another bank," he
cracked.

From October 2012 to the end of 2013, Schneiderman said
groups like Staten Island Legal Services across the state had helped some
25,000 families facing foreclosure, and 7,000 of them have already received or
have pending mortgage modifications.

"There are many programs that are available to people from
the banks, and people, if they can't talk to a lawyer or housing counselor,
they don't' know what they're eligible for," he said.

Assembylman Matthew Titone (D-North Shore) -- whose father is
the award's namesake - presented the award, saying his dad told him that with
his law degree, he could chose the nobler path of public service or the more
profitable path of private practice.

"For me, the path to public service has been a reward as my
dad promised," Titone said.

In addition to the foreclosure crisis, he praised
Schneiderman as the architect of the I-STOP legislation passed by Assemblyman
Michael Cusick and state Sen. Andrew Lanza to track opioid prescriptions in the
state.

Schneiderman said it all started locally.

"Since that program went into affect in August, the New York
Health Department has shown a 75 percent reduction in doctor-shopping. You
cannot doctor-shop in New York, and that started right here," Schneiderman
said.

Also honored with the Award for Dedication to Justice was Judge
Jonathan Lippman, Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals.

Lippman stressed the need for both public funding and
volunteer pro bono efforts from lawyers to help those without access to the
justice system.

"Helping those most in need with legal services is as important
as all the other priorities we have --schools and housing and education and
hospitals and everything that's important to us," Lippman said.